Parasites brainwash grasshoppers into death dive

[eub]

Parasites brainwash grasshoppers into death dive

A parasitic worm that makes the grasshopper it invades jump into water and commit suicide does so by chemically influencing its brain, a study of the insects’ proteins reveal.

The parasitic Nematomorph hairworm (Spinochordodes tellinii) develops inside land-dwelling grasshoppers and crickets until the time comes for the worm to transform into an aquatic adult.
[...]
Now Biron and his colleagues have shown that the worm brainwashes the grasshopper by producing proteins which directly and indirectly affect the grasshopper’s central nervous system.

Explicit video and mellilfluous conversation in the language of love here.

Comments

[hattifattener]

Nematodes? NEMATODES!!! ARGH!!!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Well, of course -- the worm would have to chemically influence the insect's brain. There are no puppet-strings present. What they were actually saying seems to have been that they found some proteins with which it does that. They need a better summary paragraph.

[eub.livejournal.com]

I wasn't able to find the recent article, only this 2003 one, whose conclusion "However, for three amino acids (taurine, valine and tyrosine), a significant part of the variation was also correlated with the manipulative process" made me wonder "what exactly does that mean?"

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I tracked down the new article. Unless you know more about proteomics and brains than I do, the practical upshot of the new article is "look here are these proteins that are expressed by the nematode and grasshoppers when the behaviour change occurs, that probably have something to do with it".

I mean, there's no doubt that the sum of human knowledge is greater with this paper than previous, but to appreciate exactly what it is we now know more about, you need quite a bit of technical knowledge. And because we actually know very little about how changes in proteins actually mean changes in what the brain does, this doesn't say anything specific. But it might very well be part of what will allow us at some future point to say something meaningful about which proteins relate to which brain activities.

Let me know if the pdf should accidentally slide in your direction rather than into my trashcan.

[eub.livejournal.com]

Thanks, but nah, I'll wait until the proteins can be deciphered.

[r-transpose-p.livejournal.com]

That was pretty cool.

Hey, have you read anything about the cat brain parasite that is supposed to cause behavioral changes in humans?

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

I think I caught that one already: I didn't willingly subject myself to having three cats sleep on top of me, or have them run around on the furniture, previously. Definite behavioural changes in me. :-).

[eub.livejournal.com]

Would that be toxoplasmosis? Not much.